Stereotypes about your country that's not true?

[The Thin White Duke]

That we British have bad teeth, which makes little sense when we have the NHS and thus for a lot of people, dentists are free.

Ah, the NHS. Giving America a reason to be jealous of Britain since 1948.

I'm from Northern Ireland, and people just think that's the Republic of Ireland, so here's two stereotypes that aren't true.
ROI: We're all ginger, in an everlasting state of inebriety and we have no teeth because they've been knocked out from barfights.

NI: We're all thugs who hate each other, basically.

Well, I'm not a thug, I have brown hair, I've never drunk anything alcoholic (I'm 17) and I still have all my teeth. Although I'm not that fond of people.

 

[indigohex]

Hi again. Another stereotype that people may have of Australia is that we are all White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant (just like what you see on programmes such as Neighbours and Home and Away, which are very popular overseas). That is not true at all. In fact, we are a very multicultural country, and most of my friends are from different backgrounds and religions. So programmes such as Neighbours and Home and Away don't truly reflect Australia.

And lastly, people like Pauline Hanson doesn't speak for Australia, despite her claims to the latter.

 

[Ryan Massey]

not every american is...
-fat
-dumb
-redneck
-lazy

 

[Lyrebird]

Hi again. Another stereotype that people may have of Australia is that we are all White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant (just like what you see on programmes such as Neighbours and Home and Away, which are very popular overseas). That is not true at all. In fact, we are a very multicultural country, and most of my friends are from different backgrounds and religions. So programmes such as Neighbours and Home and Away don't truly reflect Australia.

I've literally been like 20+ countries and no one thinks that of Australia. No knows Neighbors or Home and Away unless you're in England or NZ

 

[indigohex]

Here is an article about the stereotypes of how Australians live (11 things foreigners think about the way Australians live). And no, we don't all wear budgie smugglers to where we vote, and we don't all live near a beach.

 

[Amewsment]

That the NHS is a good thing, actually mentioned in this thread.

 

[Blockhead Pippi]

I live in Canada and while I'm not exposed to very many stereotypes and myths about my country, there's a couple that irk me.

I can't talk about Canadian stereotypes without bringing up "eh?". Maybe it's more common in the eastern and western coasts where the accent and dialect is thicker, which I am not from, but not every Canadian speaks like this. In fact I would say that in my entire life time, I've only ever met a couple of people who have used that in conversation. For that matter, where does "aboot" come from? I remember playing Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations and the judge's brother, who is supposed to be Canadian, says "aboot". Who the hell says "aboot"? I have never heard that in spoken conversation before.

I'm also tired of everyone thinking that Canada is super polite and kind to everyone. I really wish it were like that, but I've met some downright rude and horrible people here. Maybe as rule-of-thumb Canadians are generally nice, and I certainly try to be, but it does not apply to everyone.

Also, stamp out the idea that Canada is this frozen tundra of frost and winter all year. We do get some very warm weather.

 

[Beth Pavell]

That the NHS is a good thing, actually mentioned in this thread.

Suit yourself, for all its flaws I like having access to it

 

[zakisrage]

Hi again. Another stereotype that people may have of Australia is that we are all White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant (just like what you see on programmes such as Neighbours and Home and Away, which are very popular overseas). That is not true at all. In fact, we are a very multicultural country, and most of my friends are from different backgrounds and religions. So programmes such as Neighbours and Home and Away don't truly reflect Australia.

And lastly, people like Pauline Hanson doesn't speak for Australia, despite her claims to the latter.

There are non-Anglo-Saxons on those shows, but they're usually ethnic stereotypes.

I'm 100% Lebanese, and my best friend Ashley is half Italian, half Polish. We're both as Aussie as it gets. Most of my friends are actually Catholic. I'm Shia Muslim. I've got friends who are Jewish, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Sunni Muslim, and non-religious as well. I've got some Anglo-Saxon friends, but I've got lots of friends of other heritages too. A lot of Americans don't believe me when I tell them we have Jews in Australia - we do, and most of them like living here. (And anti-Semitism is actually less common in Australia than it is in America, not more common.)

God, I hate Pauline Hanson.

Another stereotype of Australians I've noticed are that people think we all have names like Bruce, Shane, Barry, Sheila, Coleen, Belinda, Ian, Narelle, and Kylie. Most people with those names are middle-aged and many of those names are associated with bogans. Most people my age have pretty normal names like Michael, James, Sarah, Alexis, Olivia, Jason, Anthony, Matthew, Elizabeth, Nicholas, Emma, Jennifer, John, and Daniel.

I've encountered tons of Australian Muslim stereotypes, such as how supoosedly we're all poorly integrated, we all have criminal records, we're all addicted to heroin, we all beat our wives, we hate Australian culture, we all look up to people like Feiz Mohammed and Keysar Trad, we're all misogynistic and homophobic, and that we're more conservative than the Muslims back in our home countries. First off, I hate Feiz Mohammed and Keysar Trad and I spend a lot of time convincing fellow Muslims not to trust them, I've never seen my father beat my mother, I love Australian culture, I've never tried heroin (though I did lose two cousins to it), and most people in my family have no criminal records. While it is true that the majority of older Muslims do not support gay rights, a lot of younger Muslims do support gay rights (and I would say they're more likely to support gay rights than the ones back in the Muslim world). Many of us are well-integrated too.

 

[Foxwarrior]

I need to recall the brazilian violence. I live in one of the capitals with the highest quality of life, and it's really violent for the last months or maybe years. It's creepy, to the point i'm afraid to take a bus and walk with my dog for fear of being stolen. Nothing never happened to me, but the fear exists. I must say that this is due to many social differences and to the government's incopentence . It does not mean that it happens to tourists, on beach towns, and small towns

 

[Elementar]

I'm Australian too, and a lot of people I speak to from overseas think we all love kangaroos. If I had to be honest, they're a major problem on our country roads. They cause heaps of accidents.
Additionally, very little of the population actually live in the outback. Most of us live in towns/suburbs/cities, and if we don't, we're most likely in a rural area that's still close to those areas.
And we are very multicultural, which is really good. Immigration is huge at the moment.

 

[zakisrage]

I need to recall the brazilian violence. I live in one of the capitals with the highest quality of life, and it's really violent for the last months or maybe years. It's creepy, to the point i'm afraid to take a bus and walk with my dog for fear of being stolen. Nothing never happened to me, but the fear exists. I must say that this is due to many social differences and to the government's incopentence . It does not mean that it happens to tourists, on beach towns, and small towns

I've heard about it too.

People have all sorts of crazy stereotypes of Brazil. The ones about the violence are nothing compared to some of the ones I've heard. I once knew someone who seriously thought there were no obese people in Brazil. They must have been looking at fashion magazines a little too much...

 

[Doctor Floptopus]

Britain Overall:
- We drink copious amounts of tea. I do, but most of my friends don't. Plus, coffee shops are way more popular than dedicated tea shops.
- Everyone is posh. True, most celebrities and major politicians are, but most people are pretty normal.
- We're incredibly polite. Not true, plenty are rude and direct, but what comes off as politeness tends to be sarcasm and passive-aggression. Also, if you try to talk to someone on public transport prepare to be shunned and glared at for the entire journey.
- We love queuing. We don't, we just take pride in the fact that we can do it properly. It's a useful skill.

Wales:
- Hate the English. It's more of an unhealthy rivalry, really. Though some people don't know when to stop.
- Sheep... No. There are a lot of sheep, but people don't "love" them.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

>Implying there's a single stereotype about the US that isn't true.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

11) Brazil is located in the continet called south america: South america is not a continent, dear

 

[zakisrage]

Britain Overall:
- Everyone is posh. True, most celebrities and major politicians are, but most people are pretty normal.

Surprisingly, I thought of the opposite since there's just as many British celebrities who fall under the "chav" label, like Cher Lloyd, Katie Price, Tulisa, etc.

 

[Ereshkigal]

That Americans have a single, cohesive culture.

It's more like a group of cultures that are forced to get along... and mostly haven't exterminated each other yet.

 

[laki]

I have seen online, that some people believe that Iceland has so few people, that we need to use an app to prevent incest. The app is real, but it's just a online family tree. It was not developed to prevent incest.

Also, for some reason, the organization that promotes tourism, tries to convince foreigners, that we all believe in elves.

 

[Ereshkigal]

I have seen online, that some people believe that Iceland has so few people, that we need to use an app to prevent incest. The app is real, but it's just a online family tree. It was not developed to prevent incest.

Outside of determining inheritance through nobility, the primary reason for a family tree is to prevent incest. So you could say the app is both real and does exist for that purpose

 

[zakisrage]

Eh, being from an Arab background, my family's guilty of incest already. I've lost count of how many cousin marriages there are in my family. Even my parents are distant cousins.

I admit, I kinda wish there were elves. They're so beautiful and pointy-eared. It would be so cool.

Getting back to the topic: remember when I said that people think Arabs pronounce all P's as B's? Not only is it true (especially in Lebanon and other countries in the Levant), but I'm able to joke about it - some of my friends love doing that Peter Piper tongue-twister with me. I can pronounce P's properly since I grew up in Australia, but a lot of my relatives, especially the older ones, still pronounce P's as B's - I remember when I saw my grandparents were watching LOTR and I laughed when my grandfather called Pippin 'Bibbin'. The reason why they do it is because there's no P sound in Arabic.